Praise4Media #67 - Aquaman

Apparently, I’m on a superhero kick, let’s take a look at DC’s offering with Aquaman

I think most of us agree that Justice League wasn’t good (and the Snyder Cut won't be either, I guarantee it), and Aquaman isn’t immune to criticism when it comes to the performance of Jason Mamoa but let’s be honest, he could’ve given it his all, and it would still have been sh*t so no love lost there. I don’t mind the casting of Mamoa and it’s time to give him his time to shine, and shine he did in his solo movie.

Production of an Aquaman movie can be traced back as early as 2004, but with studio mandates, recasting and the usual stuff that goes on behind the scenes with this kind of movie, it was 2018 before we saw it as part of the already very shaky DC Extended Universe.

The story was written by comic veteran Geoff Johns (who has written Aquaman before), mostly horror writer/director James Wan, and writer of Gangster Squad Will Beall, who co-wrote the screenplay with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Clearly Geoff Johns is the big name when it comes to writing, as most of the others are fairly niche. James Wan is an interesting choice as director as this brings him well out of his comfort zone, not necessarily a bad thing though is it can provide a fresh perspective that the DCEU sorely needed.

The film had a mixed critical reception but was well received commercially, making over $1bn at the box office, making it the DCEU’s best outing to date. So where do I stand on this film? Let’s take a look.

We open at a Lighthouse in Maine, sorry, I didn’t realise I was reading a Stephen King novel, let me try this again. Ahm. We open at a Lighthouse in Maine, a man is working to protect his home in the midst of a giant storm when an injured woman washes up on shore. How she attained these injuries we will never know… ever…

The Man, Thomas Curry, the woman, Queen Atlanna. Thomas tends to her injuries and she quickly begins to recover. She and Thomas fall in the love and the 2 conceive a child. She regales the stories of Atlantis and how it descended into the ocean thousands of years ago. However she’s later attacked by Atlantis Soldiers, though with the aid of her trident she is able to defeat them she knows that if she doesn’t return more will come. She elects to return to Atlantis, though promises she may return one day

We cut to an aquarium a few years later, with Arthur, the son of Atlanna and Thomas scares off some bullies and reveals his telepathic connection to the marine life. The scene in question as no consequences as we cut to the present day. A gang of pirates have hijacked a submarine, lead by father and son Jesse and David Kane

The gang kill a few but most of the others hide away after a distress signal. The pirates are horrified as they see a fast-moving object approaching and then forcing the sub toward the surface. It’s our titular Aquaman who barrels his way through the enemies, quickly showing that even on land, he’s no slouch, he’s strong, he’s tough, he withstands a few bullets, a knife doesn’t penetrate his skin and he’s pretty smart, using the environment to deflect shots and the like.

He manages to rescue the barricaded crew and helps them get outside to get on the life rafts waiting for them. Where did they come from? His attempts with the final crew member are interrupted by David, Aquaman has him pinned down but is knocked back by a grenade fired by Jesse, Aquaman survives this and pins him to the wall as the hull is breached and the sub begins to flood. He leaves them to their fates as he rescues the last of the crew.

David tries to save his father, but his father tells him to go and avenge him, as assurance he holds a bomb and holds down a dead man’s switch. David leaves on a stolen military sub as the bomb goes off. It’s lucky the bomb didn’t completely destroy the ship, essentially since they were in the missile bay, as the sub being in tact is necessary for a plot point later.

Aquaman returns to Amnesty Bay to find his father and the two go out for drinks together. We get an amusing bit where some strong guys look to be starting trouble but really just want an autograph. In their defence they seem to know he’s Aquaman and can bench-press a submarine, I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side either.

We cut to the Valley of the Kings where King Orm of Atlantis and King Nerus of Xebel, 2 of the 7 underwater Kingdoms discuss an attack on the surface, Orm needs 4 of the 7 kingdoms to support him to have the military might required for such an attack and gain the rather silly sounding title (and outfit) of Ocean Master. The talks only start to make progress when the valley is attacked by the submarine from the opening. The submarine is quickly dispatched but Nerus gives his support to Orm.

Aquaman is ready to escort his drunk father home when a woman rises from the Ocean, her name is Mera and she warns him of war coming to the surface if he doesn’t come with her to Atlantis and take the throne. Aquaman is not especially interested, believing Atlantis to have sent his mother to her death. Mera doesn’t really see him as worthy but implores him to come anyway, warning of the wars to come. Aquaman drives off.

It’s not long before the consequences of that decision come home to roost as Orm sends out a warning, flooding the surface with the trash it dumps in the oceans, Thomas is caught in the water and it’s only thanks to Mera that he doesn’t drown. I actually applaud that they didn’t kill him off, that would’ve been cliché. Aquaman at the very least agrees to help stop Orm, though he’s still reluctant to take the throne.

As he and Mera head into the sea, we flash back to Aquaman’s former trainer, Valko showing him the ropes of swimming underwater, he can breathe underwater, his skin adapts to the pressure and his eyes to the light, and he has a fun time with some dolphins. He asks when he gets to meet his mother and Valko promises he will when he’s ready.

Atlantean soldiers bring David money as he was hired by them for the attack on the sub, they wanted an operation sub to use to convince Nerus. David doesn’t really care and just wants Aquaman dead.

The two head to a frankly beautifully realised Atlantis. I love the art direction they use for the city, it’s so vibrant and colourful. The city has one bridge leading in and out with guards and cannons guarding the walls. They meet with Valko in an air pocket, a secondary layer of security since only royal Atlanteans can breathe air. To cement his claim to the throne he needs to defeat Orm in combat, but needs an edge in the form of Atlan’s trident. They have uncovered a clue to its whereabouts but before they can make a move, Atlantean soldiers discover them, and they’re still wearing these goofy-looking suits to breathe in the air.

Aquaman is able to take a few of them down but eventually is over-matched and captured. Mera and Valko withdraw from the fight, not wanting to lose political leverage. Aquaman is brought before Orm and decides to challenge him there and then, Orm accepts the challenge and they’re brought to an underwater volcano known as the ring of fire.

We flash back to Valko showing Aquaman how to fight. He’s becoming more and more frustrated about not being able to see his mother and Valko finally reveals that though she fathered a son in Atlantis, the discovery that she had done so on the surface lead her to be sacrificed to the Trench, home of savage sea creatures.

The fight is more even than you might think but Orm is in his element here and ultimately would’ve won the fight if not for Mera’s intervention. They’re quickly pursued and fired upon but Aquaman uses his telepathic connection with fish to get them to hide in the mouth of a whale, inspired by Pinocchio.

This seems to work, but it’s also pretty clear to them that they’re still alive. Nerus wants Mera, his daughter, captured alive and threatens to disband his alliance if she isn’t. Orm finds another way, heading back to David and providing him with Atlantean soldiers and some tech, including a highly destructive water powered plasma gun. David gets to work, Iron Man-ing the heck out of this, creating the Black Manta suit.

Aquaman and Mera end up in the Sahara Desert, Mera jumps out of a plane, without a parachute? My understanding of Atlantean lore is they shouldn’t be that great with extreme heat, somewhere like a desert would have Mera at her weakest, but they seem to conveniently forget about that because for the next few scenes, this is test footage for an Uncharted movie.

They find a clue that leads them to Sicily and a bottle they need to use, I don’t have much to say about the desert scenes because it’s all kinda boring and cliché. Mera gets to absorb the Sicilian culture and grows softer on the surface world, also discovering what Pinocchio is to her irritation. Orm continues building his alliance with the Fishermen, they’re essentially pacifists but Orm kills their King and intimidates his heirs into joining his side. It’s around this point that Orm tells Valko he knew about his connections with Aquaman the whole time and has waited a conveniently long time to act on it.

Aquaman and Mera find a convenient set of statues, apparently the bottle in the hands of a ‘true king’ would lead the way, thankfully, Aquaman knows his Earth history and places the bottle in the statue of Romulous, this kind of ridiculousness is totally in-keeping with an Uncharted film, it’s kinda weird it’s in an Aquaman one.

Black Manta makes his attack, using Atlantean weaponry that can actually hurt Aquaman, Mera fights off the Atlantean soldiers, the battle goes over the roofs of many houses and destruction is left in the wake of it. It’s revealed that Orm is keeping tabs on Mera via a bracelet he’d given her earlier (the two were betrothed, I would’ve mentioned it earlier but it affects nothing) Mera defeats the guards using Italian wine and forcing one guy to dunk his head in the toilet. I am not joking.

Aquaman sends Manta away but passes out from his injuries. He wakes up on a boat stolen from the arena, his self-esteem knocked and feeling guilty over how he handled the Manta situation. It’s funny how this goes a different way with why it’s not a great idea for Superheroes to kill their enemies, even indirectly. I mean, this is what I think they wanted to do with Talia in the Dark Knight Rises but it works better here because the payoff and setup are in the same film, and the emotional bond came pre-established as opposed to being worked in retroactively.

Mera cheers him up but their journey is leading them straight the to Kingdom of the Trench, where they’re attacked. Their only hope is a vortex which they jump into, ending up in the lost Kingdom after being rescued by Atlanna. Yes, folks, both of Aquaman’s parents are still alive, and will remain so for the rest of the film, that might actually be a first.

Atlan’s trident is close by, and their only means of escape but it’s guarded by a leviathan, a creature of the deep. Aquaman uses his abilities to converse with the creature, something that apparently hadn’t happened since King Atlan. He says he doesn’t really know if he’s worthy, but he’s going to try and that’s the only thing he can do to protect those he cares about.

He successfully takes the trident which provides him with the classic Aquaman costume which against all odds, doesn’t look really silly. Same can’t be said for the Ocean Master costume as Orm heads to kingdom of the Brine, a crustacean race, and seems for some reason to want to attack it outright rather than negotiate a war-pact, go figure.

Anyway, their war is interrupted by Aquaman, now joined by the leviathan and the creatures of the trench, not to mention the creatures of the sea. The battle continues but there’s a lot of death and Aquaman’s had enough, whilst Mera goes to rescue Valko, she departs with advice to try and get Orm to fight on land.

Mera convinces her father that the trident cements Aquaman’s claim to the throne and gets him to stand down his army. She rescues Valko but neither can intervene in the battle between Aquaman and Orm, as the kingdoms need to see it. Aquaman ultimately prevails but ultimately chooses to spare his brother, who’s pacified somewhat when he sees Atlanna.

The film ends with Atlanna returning to the surface and reuniting with Thomas, awwww... and then we get a credits stinger saying Manta survived.

Aquaman is a great superhero film. For the record, I enjoyed Jason Mamoa as Aquaman in Justice League but getting the spotlight only improved him as a character. They just about hit the tone balance just right, having little silly moments scattered throughout (there’s a squid playing the drums) a fairly serious story, my only major complaint is it’s a little slow, I reckon about 20 minutes could’ve been cut.

I do also wish some of the environmental stuff had been emphasised a little. The whole notion of them dumping back all the trash (how did they do that, by the way?) back on the land should have some quite serious consequences that are largely glossed over.

The direction is solid, and whilst the villains are nothing special, they get the message across. It’s helpful that both have relatively simple motivations so we don’t need to waste more time with a convoluted origin story.

The visuals underwater are solid and the film has decent action, I can’t wait to see where this goes in the sequel.

Praise Rating 65%